What policy areas did you focus on as a student?
Social policy, family wellbeing
What policy areas became your focus post-degree?
Social policy, family wellbeing, public benefits
What is your current position?
Senior research associate at the Urban Institute
What type of work do you do in this position?
I study safety net programs, often focusing on family experiences applying for and accessing benefits. My day to day includes a wide variety of work across projects – managing teams, writing, developing proposals and engaging with our funders, budgeting, collecting and analyzing data, and more!
How have you used what you learned during your time at La Follette on the job?
I use the grounding and frameworks I learned at La Follette to help understand the broader context of my policy areas of interest. In particular, the “how” behind the policymaking process.
What courses did you take during your time at La Follette that have most contributed to you becoming a success in your current career?
PA 873: Introduction to Policy Analysis: I appreciated the grounding and framework this course offered, as well as the chance to really hone those skills through intense focus on a specific, randomly assigned, policy.
PA 891: State & Local Government Finance: I appreciated how this course offered a wide view into state and local government finance. The content was enough to get me curious about areas I hadn’t explored before, and helped me put particular policy areas of interest to me in a broader context.
HDFS 865: Family Theories, Janean Dilworth-Bart: I really enjoyed taking this class in the School of Human Ecology. The theories and frameworks for thinking about families that we explored in this class offered me a chance to think so much more broadly about family wellbeing and to step outside my policy mindset. I especially enjoyed learning alongside PhD students who were deeply focused and knowledgeable on their areas of interest.